Archives: Digital Marketing

Digital marketing – a term that can either overwhelm you or leave you confused. That’s because this term now comes with concepts that you may not be aware of. Digital marketing holds undeniable benefits for your company’s growth and profitability.

It may already be evident to you that our marketplace is increasingly more digital as the years go by, which is now forcing companies to turn their marketing strategies to the digital world. Whether your company is big or small, digital marketing is vital to market, engage and build relationships with your consumers.

The Importance of Digital Marketing

Digital marketing firstly ensures for a company’s online survival. We cannot look through the Yellow Pages for required products and services any more. As social media is an online medium that is ever growing, it is considered the absolute most cost-efficient and effective tool to network content throughout the world. Therefore increasing a business’ visibility and credibility. It allows engagement with a broad audience of consumers. Having a strong online presence will boost your marketplace awareness, as the online realm runs 24.7, 365, across various platforms and demographics. One of the most insightful methods of learning what your clients want and need is through communicating on this marketplace platform. Use this path to allow yourself and customers to make informed decisions.

Moreover, this form of marketing generates higher revenues for your business as it is cost-effective and easy to use. Digital marketing creates exposure of your company in the digital world. As such, it targets your audience directly and efficiently, which leads customers to your business and increases revenue.

The only to find out how effective your digital marketing strategy is, is through measurement. Digital marketing enables measurable lead generation, offering customer information based on their online behavior. You can use all the data to make informed decisions that improve online and offline business performance. Digital marketing also boosts inbound traffic to your website, through brand recognition via social media. Using social media as part of your digital marketing strategy gains more reach to your loyal customers and potential customers with greater ease.

Google will become your best friend when applying digital marketing as it increases business rankings on Google searches, putting you on top of your competitors. Websites that contain keyword rich, relevant and well written content is considered Search Engine Optimized. This ranks them at the top and makes your website the go-to source in the industry.

Having an active online presence with various social media accounts is vital for your websites SEO. SEO is another great digital marketing tool that holds undeniable benefits. Through optimizing your website and social media content, you can reach more customers online based on relevant key words that they would search for regarding your industry and services.

Lastly, digital marketing allows for you to effectively build a relationship with your consumers to create a positive image. Despite the efforts of an accurately constructed corporate identity and content management, we develop brands based on the interpretations of customers through experience. Brands rely on positive feedback and interpretation. Therefore, consistent communication via digital marketing ensures that their perceptions match the correct message your content and corporate identity wishes to portray.

Within the digital world, Web Changes have proven effective marketing strategies and have resulted in many satisfied clients. We have assisted them in enhancing their online growth, expertise and decision making process for over 15 years.

All team members have attained reputable qualifications and experience that ensures digital marketing assistance which is result-driven and meets industry standard. We set Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic and Timely goals to ensure quality and efficiency. Consistency, transparency and support are key to our success, making us the right agency for successful digital marketing.

How can Web Changes Guide You?

We expose ourselves to the dynamic world of digital marketing and adapt to industry changes. Thus, we warrant up-to-standard, professional and above all powerful effective digital marketing. Web Changes understands the importance of digital marketing for growth and success.

We guide and inform our clients to their appropriate target audience through digital marketing tools to establish admirable exposure and valuable results. We share the data we collect with our clients in order to assist with their decision making process, and to increase revenue.

Web changes understand the various strategies that are useful in creating a powerful digital marketing strategy that is industry appropriate. Our work has extended across various industries, and our clients consistently receive valuable advice. We understand the overwhelming complexities that this new marketing strategy has posed. We have your back, let us guide you through this. Our experience and expertise allows you to have peace of mind.

Digital marketers are your online salesmen that have direct contact with your target market. They bring in the conversions, gaining business presence online and offline. Stay in line and surpass your competitors. Let Web Changes assist you with an effective online strategy. We will enhance your potential growth and awareness, growing you further.

At Web Changes, information is provided for you to make informed decisions. In finding the right digital marketing agency to handle your online presence, you need to know who, how and why an agency is going to help you. Web Changes would like to tell you who we are, how we do business, and why we want to help you, making us the right agency for you.

1. We set SMART Goals

Most digital agencies over-promise and under-deliver. They focus so much on your business that they will say anything, but fail to deliver their promise. At Web Changes, we make Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic and Timely goals to ensure that we help you efficiently and effectively. These goals focuses on delivering our promises to you.

As professionals, we share expert guidance within the digital world, giving you a clear direction with your online presence, thereby ensuring that you can meet your digital needs in order to achieve your overall business goals.

2. We have a proven track record

For over 14 years, Web Changes assisted various types of businesses in achieving a polished and professional online presence. No matter the product or service, help can be provided.

Visit the Web Changes website, social media accounts or chat to our clients to get an understanding of the digital expertise offered, which has not only grown Web Changes but the business of clients. We develop tailor-made digital solutions.

3. We are result-driven, service-orientated and supportive

Modern websites and social media are not static. They need constant updating.

At Web Changes, we apply monthly maintenance and reports giving you insightful data to boost your digital and business efforts. The digital world is constantly changing and therefore applying and offering changes for constant updates are performed to stay in-line or ahead of competitors.

Web Changes provides this consistent service. Moreover, we acknowledge that increasing your online visibility will increase your credibility. Most importantly, whenever you need support, we will have your back. Contact one of our team members which will attend to your needs or queries immediately.

4.All-in-one digital marketing package

At Web Changes we have a qualified and expert team, making us the go-to source for all your digital solutions.

We have in-house programmers, graphic designers, copywriters and digital marketers which work as a team and giving you an effectively aligned online presence – offering the full digital package.

5. We are your business partners

The team places their minds in your businesses goals to align online marketing performance with the business. This is also done in order to ensure that we perform quality work. As a result, this creates a clear and concise message for online consumers.

Give us an understanding of your business goals, and we will tailor a digital marketing strategy that will work for you. We share our expertise in digital marketing in order to solve the requirements effectively.

Need a digital marketing plan to grow your business? We create modern websites, functional intranets, eye-catching graphic design, and strategic social media marketing created with professionalism and passion.

Choose Web Changes; let us save you time and money with our quality and professionalism – creating YOUR world at your fingertips.

Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is a digital marketing strategy, used by various businesses online, to gain an online presence. Basically, it is a matter of making sure that your website is structured for search engines to understand your web pages. The main focus of SEO is to drive traffic, increase awareness within search engines and improve rankings.

It is not just about making it search engine friendly, but also making a site better for your users. Search engines are the road which leads your customers to your website and SEO being the driver that directs them there. If search engines cannot locate your website and add your information to their databases, you can miss out on a great opportunity to drive traffic to your digital market.

So, with that being said, let’s look at 5 advantages of effective SEO practices.

1.Increases Traffic

SEO will give you results. It might not be immediate, but as soon as you start implementing SEO, traffic will increase at a steady rate. By optimizing your content and having a website with quality keywords, both potential and returning customers will find it easier to search for your products and services. Thus, increase your click rate and website traffic.

Search engines, like Google, will also rank your site higher on the results page.

2.ROI (Return on Investment)

SEO provides trackable results. Agencies, like Web Changes, can track every aspect of the SEO strategy such as rankings, traffic, and conversions. Higher conversion rates are just one of the incredible benefits of SEO which cannot be compared with any other form of marketing. Search engines actually drive the people who searched your meta tag and meta keywords to your website. These people are your target market, as opposed to adverts which are directed at anyone.

3.Cost -Effective

SEO is the most cost-effective, long-term marketing strategy. Analysing information such as website traffic, conversions and rankings can give you data about your customers which can help you refine your marketing campaign, save money, time and resources.

4. Competitors Are Doing It

SEO is a field which is constantly rising. People are realizing the benefits of SEO. Your competitors realize this too and will take advantage of the opportunity. This could make them appear higher than you, leading customers to click on them first, despite your site offering better prices or services. Investing in skilled and experienced SEO writers will keep you ahead of your competitors.

5.Brand Awareness

Just like building credibility, businesses that have an established online presence become preferred brands to users who are seeking your products and services. Higher ranked links result in outstanding impressions, increasing exposure. This will instill trust in your brand as higher ranked websites are perceived to be trustworthy.

Regarding all these amazing advantages that SEO has for your online presence, do not hesitate. Web Changes will maintain your website to become SEO friendly. We also send monthly ratings and analytics reports to keep you informed. Suggestions and improvements shall also be provided to keep your digital marketing strategy ahead of your competitors.

How do you choose between social media or email marketing? Every business needs to determine the best use of their marketing budget. When your budget is limited, you may not have enough resources to pursue every avenue available. Even though both social media and email marketing are inexpensive, you’ll want to direct your resources to the method that gets you the best results.

Without some knowledge of these different forms of digital marketing, you won’t be able to make the right decision. So let’s start with a summary of the strengths and weaknesses of each:

Social Media Marketing

The first thing you need to know about marketing your business on social media is which platforms to use. The most popular and well-known platforms are Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, YouTube and LinkedIn.

Your business doesn’t need to be on every platform. You simply need to work out which platform/s your target market uses. Posting regular updates on the social media platforms you’ve selected will help your credibility, but unless you pay to advertise, you’re unlikely to get the results you want.

Advertising on social media requires a variety of skills such as copywriting, graphic design and strategy. Most channels allow you to target a very specific set of demographics, but if you can’t design an eye-catching advert with persuasive copy, you’ll struggle to convert clicks into customers.

One of the strengths of social media marketing is the fact that it’s affordable. You don’t need a large budget to start advertising and you should see a decent response to your efforts. It’s best suited to B2C businesses that have a product or service to promote. However, B2B businesses can use paid advertising on social media to increase brand awareness.

Email Marketing

These days, email marketing isn’t just a matter of sending out a monthly newsletter to your database – although, this is a good place to start. With a proper strategy in place, you can create sales funnels to direct your subscribers to take the action you want them to, such as signing up for a course or buying a product.

Email marketing works just as well for B2B as it does for B2C business models. Not only does regular communication with your existing customers keep you top of mind, it also encourages new customers to learn more about your business and what you have to offer. The goal of email marketing should never be to push sales, but rather to demonstrate what value you can add or what problems your product or service can solve.

Creating content for your newsletters does take some time and effort. Your newsletter will also need images to help grab your subscribers’ attention and encourage them to read your articles. This requires the skills of a graphic designer. If you don’t have time on your hands to acquire this skill set, you can outsource this task to a reputable digital marketing agency.

Not only will an agency be able to design a professional newsletter for you, they’ll manage the distribution and provide you with a full report on its performance. Learning what type of content your subscribers respond to best will help you create better newsletters.

Understanding your audience

When your budget forces you to choose between two different marketing methods, the most important factor to consider is your target market.

Now, you might assume that if your target market is under 30 then social media is the obvious answer. However, research shows that most young consumers prefer to interact with brands and businesses via email. The point here is research your target market to learn their preferences.

Social media and email marketing can help your business achieve its goals. If you have the resources, you should include both methods in your marketing strategy.

Working with a digital marketing agency

If you don’t want to hire a digital marketing manager, you’ll need to outsource the work to an agency. There are undeniable benefits when working with an agency. You will have access to skilled and experienced marketers, monthly reports to track your ROI and a set monthly cost.

Don’t expect to see an immediate improvement in your business. Any marketing strategy takes time to deliver the results you want and it’s essential to lay a solid foundation. As time goes by, you’ll see your social media community grow and more subscribers will respond to your newsletters. There may even come a time when you’ll need to invest more money into your digital marketing efforts.

If you’ve decided that 2018 is the year to start marketing your business online, have a look at our range of digital marketing packages. From the Social Starter which focuses on basic social media management up to the Marketing Maven which is a full-service package that includes blogging, newsletters, and paid advertising, you’ll find something to suit your budget.

The founder of Facebook, Mark Zuckerberg, recently announced his intention to change the goal of Facebook’s News Feed. Instead of providing millions of users with relevant content, the focus will now be on promoting content that elicits meaningful interactions.

That means posts from your friends, family, and groups will take the top spots in your news feed. And while this is good news for those of us who use this platform to keep in touch and informed, it will affect those who use Facebook Business Pages to promote their business.

If you manage your company’s Facebook page, you will have noticed that organic reach has declined significantly over the years. And with these recent changes, your figures are likely to drop even further.

Has anything really changed?

This isn’t the first time that Facebook has changed their algorithm, and it won’t be the last. Given that organic reach has declined over the years, will this update make any difference?

It will, so if you’re not already doing the following, start now with:

Creating high-quality content that adds value to your followers

Encouraging users to interact with you but avoiding clickbait

Finding new ways to tell your story without pushing sales

What can you do to ensure your Facebook followers still see your content?

Posting your latest promotions, funny memes and cat videos just won’t cut it anymore. If you want to continue using this social media platform as part of your social media marketing strategy, try these tips:

Create more video content

If there’s one type of content that gets more engagement than anything else—it’s video. Don’t be reluctant to experiment with the medium, especially if no-one else in your industry is using it. Even B2B businesses can use video effectively; think of doing an interview with your CEO, a behind-the-scenes segment on your manufacturing process or product demonstrations.

You could also use Facebook’s own live-streaming feature, Facebook Live to broadcast live from events and exhibitions. Be sure to tell your followers when you’ll be going live so they can catch your broadcast.

Post your content on other channels

If you publish regular blogs on your website, and you share these links on your Facebook page, think about other places where you could share this content. You can investigate other social media platforms such as LinkedIn, Pinterest and Instagram.

Reach out to other websites (not your competition, obviously) related to your industry, and ask them if they’d be interested in sharing your content on their website or social media accounts.

Ask your followers to activate the See First option

Making sure your followers see your posts could be as simple as asking them. Simply tell your followers to navigate to your Facebook page, click on the ‘Following’ button and select ‘See First’ from the drop-down menu. If they do this, they’ll be less likely to miss your updates.

Create a Facebook Group for your page

Last year, Facebook made it possible for Business Pages to create Group Pages. Previously, you could only create a group in your personal capacity. While this has opened up more opportunities for businesses to share their content on Facebook, keep the following in mind if you decide to create a group:

Don’t use your group to promote your business: Remember, the purpose of a group is share information, so focus on providing your members with relevant content.

Be firm about spam: Create a set of guidelines for your group and add it to your description. If your members are constantly bombarded with irrelevant spam, they’ll leave.

Encourage your members to provide feedback: Your group is a direct line to your customers, so get them involved by asking for feedback on your products or services.

Use your group to provide great customer service: Let your customers use the group to contact you with their questions and concerns. Answer comments swiftly and demonstrate your commitment to keeping your customers happy.

Invest in Facebook Ads

It’s called ‘pay to play’. It’s the one way you’re guaranteed to reach a wider audience on Facebook. Paid advertising on Facebook is inexpensive. It allows you to reach a specific demographic. If you think about the time you currently spend maintaining your page, and the fact that you’re unlikely to see a decent return on the hours you put in, it’s worth experimenting with Facebook Ads.

However, if you’re unfamiliar with setting up Facebook Ads, you could still be wasting your money. Don’t hesitate to partner with a digital marketing agency that has experience in advertising on social media. While it will cost you more than running a campaign yourself, you’ll get a better return on your investment.

As the largest social media platform out there, businesses can’t afford to ignore this growing platform. While changes to the algorithm will affect your results, there are still lots of opportunities to explore.

If you see the potential of Facebook, but you don’t have the time or expertise to manage it yourself, call Web Changes. We’ll create optimized content for your account and set-up and manage your paid advertising efforts for a very reasonable fee.

Every year the internet is flooded with articles from digital marketers about the big trends that will dominate their industry. Of course, this information is generally only of interest to other digital marketers. It means nothing to the thousands of small to medium business owners who can’t decide on whether to have a Facebook page for their business or not.

Here is information that will help you make that decision. We’re looking at the big digital marketing trends for 2018 that could help you grow your business.

The rise and rise of video

This isn’t a new trend, but it’s one that continues to grow in popularity. Live videos, such as Facebook Live, are tremendously popular and generate more engagement than any other type of content.

If you’re not sure where to start with video, here are some ideas:

– Give your followers a peek behind-the-scenes of your business

– Create a video showing your products in action

– Get satisfied customers to provide you with video testimonials

– Give an interview as an industry expert

It may mean stepping out of your comfort zone. Although, if you can find a way to use videos in your marketing strategy, you’ll definitely stand out from your competition.

The importance of being mobile-friendly

Again, this isn’t a new trend but one that’s become absolutely essential if you want your website to rank well organically. About three years ago, Google started prioritizing mobile-friendly websites in search results. But that isn’t the only reason why your site should be mobile-friendly.

With more people using their phones and laptops to find products and services on-the-go, you’ll want a website that makes it easy for them to interact with you. Mobile-friendly sites have a number of elements and functions that make them suitable for viewing on a smaller screen. Copy and images display correctly, contact forms are simple and intuitive and you can make a click just by clicking on a number.

If you have a site that isn’t mobile-friendly, make 2018 the year you get your site updated otherwise, you’ll struggle to compete with sites that already meet this essential criterion.

Content Marketing is the preferred strategy

Given the amount of advertising that the average person is bombarded with every day, it’s no surprise that most people would prefer to learn about a business through an article or video rather than an advert.

Many of the large retailers in South Africa have developed sophisticated content marketing campaigns to engage with the customers. However, B2B businesses can benefit just as much from creating content rather than relying on traditional marketing methods.

Their customers often require more information for purchasing decisions. Whitepapers, case studies, newsletters, and blogs offer an engaging way to deliver information. Content marketing is inexpensive and produces a steady stream of qualified leads. That alone may convince you to at least start a business blog this year.

Marketing with transparency

An objection we often face regarding social media presences is the concern that a customer may give a company a bad review. We overcome their concerns by assuring them that as long as they handle a complaint the right way, their business won’t suffer for it.

One of the biggest trends for 2018 suggests that encouraging clients to leave feedback on your website and social media platforms is a better way to do business. It also means that brands must be prepared to give customers a behind-the-scenes look at how they run their business. If you’re transparent about your business, your customers will reward you for it.

And there you have it. Four digital marketing trends that you should keep in mind when planning your marketing strategy for 2018. If you’re not on social media or your accounts are inactive, now’s the time to dust them off. If your competitors are already on social media or sending out newsletters, you’re losing out.

Don’t be afraid to show your customers what you’re all about. From your products, services to your company culture—this is exactly what they want to see. If you don’t have the time, resources or skills to manage your digital marketing in-house, outsource it to an agency like Web Changes. We’ll help develop a cost-effective and manageable digital marketing strategy for 2018 and beyond.

You don’t have to blow your entire marketing budget to ensure your ad appears in the top spot on Google. There are better and cheaper ways to get your ad to the top – through AdWords. As an added bonus, you could also increase your conversion rate – and that’s what you really want.

How Google determines the position of your ad

Before you learn how to improve your ranking, you need a basic understanding of how Google decides which ad appears where. The answer to this lies in the following formula:

Cost per Click Bid x Quality Score = Ad Rank

Let’s break this down further. Cost per Click refers to the maximum amount you’re willing to bid on a particular keyword. While the Quality Score is determined by these three factors:

1. Expected Click-Through-Rate
Google uses an algorithm to estimate the percentage of people who will click on your ad. It is partly based on the previous performance of your ad.

3. Landing Page Experience
Once a user has clicked on your ad and landed on your website, how good is their experience? Are they able to find what they’re looking for or do they click away within seconds?

If you think that Google simply awards first place to the highest bidder – you’re wrong. And there’s a good reason for that. Google has built their reputation on providing users with the most relevant content and information. If they simply allowed advertisers with badly designed and content-poor websites to dominate search results, nobody would use their search engine.

That means, even small businesses with small budgets have an opportunity to succeed on Google without spending ridiculous amounts of money.

So how can you take advantage of Google’s Ad Ranking formula to improve your ranking? Start with these tips:

1. Make your ads relevant

You wouldn’t get very far in business if you didn’t deliver on your promises – and the same applies to Google AdWords. Make sure that the page your customer land on matches the content of your ad.

For example, if you’re running an ad for cupcakes, don’t send visitors to a general baking page – send them right to the cupcake page.

2. Keep links to a minimum

A landing page cluttered with links can be confusing, so avoid the clutter and make it easy for your potential customer to find what they’re looking for.

The more options you give them, the more likely they are to click away before they make a purchase.

3. Include a clear Call to Action (CTA)

What action do you want visitors to take once they’ve clicked your ad: make a purchase, fill in a contact form or download a document. Whatever it is, don’t be shy to ask them to take the next step.

Include a clear CTA on your landing pages along with some persuasive copy and you’ll see the difference in your conversions.

4. Use high-quality, relevant images

People are attracted to images, so use high-quality, relevant images to grab your visitors attention and reinforce your message.

This is especially important if you’re selling a product. As you customers can’t interact with the product, they’ll be relying on clear and sharp images and your copy to give them an idea of what to expect should they buy from you.

5. Keep your copy short and sweet

While you want your visitors to spend more time on your site, you don’t want to waste their time with lots of meaningless waffle. Get to the point quickly and give them the information they’re looking for upfront. Then, use your Call to Action to guide them through your sales funnel.

6. Add options for social sharing and testimonials

Give visitors the opportunity to share the content on your website with their network on social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest.

Adding testimonials increases your credibility and will encourage new customers to do business with you.

7. Speed up your site

It’s no secret that if your pages take more a few seconds to load, visitors will click away. Check your site speed and make sure your landing pages load quickly. You wouldn’t want to miss out on a sale or a lead just because your site is sluggish.

Google tends to favour sites that load quickly for organic search results too, so it’s worth ensuring that your site is up to speed.

You don’t have to spend a fortune on paid advertising channels to get results. If you concentrate on crafting relevant ads and filling your landing pages with top-notch content, you’ll get more traffic for less money. Pay attention to your Quality Score and you’ll see a better return on your investment – no matter how big or small your budget is.

At Web Changes, we manage large and small Google AdWords budgets for a variety of businesses. Our approach to paid advertising includes auditing your landing pages to ensure that the clicks you get on your ads turn into real, paying customers. Contact Web Changes for assistance with your paid advertising strategy.

With social media constantly in the spotlight, why should you include email marketing in your marketing strategy? According to Everlytic’s recent Email Marketing Benchmarks Report, South African businesses that engage in email marketing are reaping the benefits.

The state of email marketing in South Africa

Everyltic’s report has revealed what many marketers already know – that people prefer to communicate with businesses via email. Social media is still an important element of your online presence, but it’s email marketing that encourages engagement.

Two of the most interesting statistics to emerge from the report are:

Unsubscribe rates have decreased from 0.253% to 0.220%

You are required to provide your subscribers with a clear and easy way to opt out of receiving communications from you. Offering an option to unsubscribe has benefits for businesses too. It’s far better to have a smaller database of customers who are truly interested in your content, then a large database of subscribers that will never open your emails.

The fact that unsubscribe rates have declined may also indicate that businesses are succeeding at producing relevant and engaging content.

Mobile rates have increased from 25.88% to 28.10%

With more people relying on their smartphones for internet access, it follows that they’ll be checking their emails throughout the day. Designing your newsletters with mobile users in mind may have an effect on the success of your email marketing efforts.

According to Everlytic’s report, the Lifestyle, Art and Entertainment Industry exceeds all others with more than 35% of their emails being read on a mobile. Clearly, their content is well-suited to this platform and those newsletters should serve as an example to others wishing to emulate their results.

It’s worth investing in email marketing

Yes, writing and designing an enticing newsletter does take time and effort. But there are some very convincing reasons why you should consider investing your time and money in email marketing.

1.Emails work on every platform

Emails work on every platform. This is unlike a website which needs to be responsive and mobile-friendly so as to adapt to smaller screens. It doesn’t matter when, where or how your customers access their emails – they’ll always be able to view your newsletters the way you intended them to.

And unlike social media where you’re limited to the number of characters you can use, a newsletter can be as long or as short as you want it to be.

2.Emails are ideal for keeping your customers up-to-date

Whether you’re running a promotion, received an award or started stocking a new product, a newsletter is the best way to tell your customers about it.

Even if some of the people on your database haven’t bought from you yet, by opting in to receive your newsletters, they’re clearly interested in what you have to offer. If they like your newsletters, they may even share them with other people in their network.

3. You can integrate your emails with your other marketing tactics

If you have different target markets, you can easily divide your database and send different newsletters to your different market segments. This works equally well for B2C and B2B businesses.

In fact, marketers highly recommend that you segment your newsletter list and test and measure the response to your emails. That way you can determine what type of content your customers prefer. Where after you can use that information for future newsletters and marketing campaigns.

4.Emails are cost-effective

Even if you use the services of a digital marketing agency to manage your email marketing, it remains one of the cheapest forms of advertising available. And the larger your database, the more cost-effective it becomes.

This makes email marketing an excellent strategy for small businesses on a budget. Encouraging people to sign up for your newsletters on your website is also a great way to grow your leads. You could even set up a series of newsletters to guide new subscribers through your sales funnel. This will encourage them to make a purchase.

Every business can benefit from email marketing. Thanks to the research carried out by Everlytic, there is proper evidence that South Africans are as responsive to email marketing as consumers overseas.

Keen to try email marketing but don’t have the time or skills to do it yourself? Web Changes can do it for you. Our digital marketing team can create, distribute and manage your newsletters and provide you with a full reporting function. For an effective email marketing service, get in touch with us today.

Achieving the number one spot on Google is the Holy Grail for anyone with an e-commerce website. It’s a coveted spot because it gets your business right in front of potential customers who are looking for the product or service you offer. People search online because it saves them time and if your site is buried on the second or third page of results, it’s unlikely anyone will click on it.

But getting onto the first page takes a combination of SEO savvy and some kind of marketing budget. Beyond setting up AdWords and exchanging links there are some simple things you can do to boost your rankings. In this article, we’ll show you five steps you can take to help your website make the grade, without a whole lot of SEO jargon. These tips are most suitable for e-commerce websites, so let’s get started.

Leverage user-generated content to build trust

Include features on your site that allow your customers to rank and review your products. Not only will this provide with valuable feedback that you can use to improve your offerings, but it will help build trust with your customers. Research has shown that people are more likely to buy from a website that includes customer reviews.

Reviews can increase page rankings by increasing the popularity of your site. This means more users visit it and spend time looking at more than one page.

Create original product descriptions

If you’re stocking common products that may be found on several sites, it’s easy to use the description provided by the manufacturer. But Google isn’t fond of duplicate information. If it comes across two or more pages on your site with the same content it will only index one page.

If your inventory isn’t massive, invest some time or employ a copywriter to come up with fresh product descriptions. Google, just like people enjoys fresh content and it will help your rankings.

Elevate your product categories

After the home page, category pages are the most important part of an e-commerce website. They provide essential information for users and search engines alike. Make you category products more than just a boring list of products. Include information that will help buyers decide what to purchase.

Like product descriptions, avoid generic terms and come up with something fresh, unique and SEO-friendly that helps your visitors.

Provide an internal search function

If you have a large number of products listed on your site, it makes sense to include a search function to make it easy for visitors to find what they’re looking for. Add filters, such as colours, sizes or price ranges so customers can drill down into the results to find what they want quickly.

An internal search engine makes it easier for people and search engines to navigate your site.

Optimise your visual content

Using high-quality images and videos are important to customers. Because they aren’t in a store where they can interact with the product, clear images can help convince them to make a purchase. But don’t rely on large files that will only slow your site down because they take too long to load.

Strike a balance between image quality and speed. Otherwise, customers will get bored waiting for an image to load and may leave your site.

For many e-commerce websites, achieving the top spot on Google appears to be the ultimate sign of success. However, what’s more important is whether your site is bringing in qualified leads that convert into sales. The tips we’ve mentioned above will do this and as a result, you’ll also see an improvement in your rankings.

Social media is an affordable way for small businesses to promote themselves and connect with old and new customers. But in recent years, it has started to influence search rankings. There are two reasons for this: First, it creates another opportunity for you to connect with new customers and second, search engines will pick up on the external links that point to your site from your profile.

Even if you don’t have a social media strategy, implementing the tips we’ve outlined below will help you get more out of social media for your business:

Include social share buttons on your website

Make it easy for people to share your content, and they will. Include links to all the social media platforms you have an account with on your website. Even if a prospect doesn’t buy something on their first visit, following you on social media acts like a bookmark. If they see your posts they may visit your site again.

Don’t forget your blog. Add share buttons to every blog post and focus on creating useful content. People like to share helpful information with their network. And make sure that every profile you have includes a link to your website.

Keep your profiles consistent

All the contact information and even the images you use should be the same across all of your social media profiles. Complete every field on your profile. It may seem like a lot of work, but search engines prefer profiles that have all the required information. It makes your company come across as polished and professional.

Use your SEO keywords in your profile

Using a keyword or phrase in your profile makes it easy for people to find you. This works for searches within the social network and for search engines such as Google and Bing. But it must sound natural. Stuffing keywords in randomly will only make you look unprofessional.

Use hashtags in your posts

Like keywords, it’s important that the hashtags you use are relevant to the audience you want to reach. People use hashtags to find information that they need. Proper use of hashtags will help you to find new audiences outside of your regular followers. Research shows that posts with hashtags get more engagement, so spend some time researching relevant hashtags you can use.

Be social and encourage engagement

Social media is all about relationships. Don’t just post it and forget it. And don’t make the mistake of only posting promotional content. Ask questions, start a conversation and engage with your followers. Share relevant content from your own site and other sites, but make sure your followers will find it helpful or amusing.

Use images properly

Images can be a powerful way to communicate your brand to potential customers. So invest in professional images of a good quality. Check the size guides for each platform and make sure your images are correctly formatted and displayed. Like the language you use, your images should be consistent across all your profiles. This creates a good impression and strengthens your brand.

Use one email address

While you might want to share the social media duties between your employees, it makes sense to use one email address. That way, if someone leaves the company, you can still access your profiles and manage your accounts.

Because social media sites tend to have a high authority ranking, links from social media are considered high-quality. There are many ways you can use optimise your social media, but these tips are a good place to start. Let your audience be your guide and don’t be afraid to experiment.